Relational Database

Modeling II

“We don’t live in a world of reality, we live in a world of

perceptions.” J. Gerald Simmons
 Class Outline
 Using the ER methodology and notation discussed
last day, create a completed entity-relationship
model for:
 a simple library database
 a simple university faculty database
 What are weak entities?
 What is a generalized hierarchy?
 What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
Entity-Relationship model?
Steps in Entity-Relationship Modeling
1. Identify entities
2. Identify relationships
3. Determine relationship type
4. Determine level of participation
5. Assign an identifier for each entity
6. Draw completed E-R diagram
7. Deduce a set of preliminary skeleton tables along with a
proposed primary key for each table (using rules provided)
8. Develop a list of all attributes of interest (not already listed
and systematically assign each to a table in such a way to
achieve a 3NF design (i.e., no repeating groups, no partial
dependencies, and no transitive dependencies)
E-R Method Example: Library Database

 Step 1. Identify entity types

AUTHOR BOOK PUBLISHER

 Step 2. Identify relationships

AUTHOR writes BOOK

publishe
PUBLISHER BOOK
s
 Library Database (cont’d)
 Step 3. Determine relationship type. Ask:
 Each book is written by how many authors? Each author
writes how many books?
Each book may be authored by zero (anonymous), one, or more than
one author and each author may write zero, one, or more than one
book. The relationship type is many-to-many or:
M N
AUTHOR writes BOOK

For PUBLISHER-publishes-BOOK, each publisher publishes zero,

one, or more books and each book is published by exactly one
publisher. The relationship type is one-to-many where BOOKS is on
the many side and PUBLISHER is one the one side.
1 publishe M
PUBLISHER BOOK
s
 Library Database (cont’d)
 Step 4. Determine level of participation
 Since each book does not have to be authored (anonymous) and

since each author does not have to write a book (may make CD)
the level of participation is optional for both sides of the
relationship of AUTHOR-writes-BOOK combination
M N
AUTHOR writes BOOK
(0, N) (0, N)
 For the PUBLISHER-publishes-BOOK combination, the level of
participation for PUBLISHER is optional (publishers do not
necessarily have to publish a book, perhaps newsletters) and the
level of participation for the BOOK side is mandatory (each book
must have a publisher)
1 publishe
N
PUBLISHER BOOK
s
(0, N) (1,1)
 Library Database (cont’d)
 Step 5. Assign an identifier for each entity
 AuthorID, ISBN, PublisherID

 Step 6. Draw completed E-R diagram

AUTHOR writes BOOK ISBN, ...
M N
AuthorID, ... (0,N) N (1,1)
(0,N)

publishes

1
(0,N)
PUBLISHER

PublisherID, ...
 Library Database (cont’d)
 Step6. Draw completed E-R diagram - resolve
M:N relationships

1 M M 1
AUTHOR writes BOOK ISBN, ...
(0,N) (1,1) (1,1) (0,N) M (1,1)
AuthorID, ... AuthorID,ISBN, ...
publishes

1 (0,N)

PUBLISHER

PublisherID, ...
E-R Modeling: University Example
 A database is to be set up to record information about
faculty, the courses they teach, and the students who take
courses. Some courses are taught by teams of faculty
members.
 Step 1. Identify entity types
FACULTY COURSE STUDENT

 Step 2. Identify relationships

FACULTY teaches COURSE

STUDENT takes COURSE

 University Example (cont’d)
 Step 3. Determine relationship type. Ask:
– Each faculty member teaches how many courses?
– Each course is taught by how many faculty?
– Each student takes how many courses?
– Each course is taken by how many students?
 Use occurrences diagram to visualize relationship
between entities
F1 C1 S1 C1
F2 C2 S2 C2
F3 C3 S3 C3
F4 C4 S4 C4
F5 C5 S5 C5
F6 C6 S6 C6
 University Example (cont’d)
 Step 3. Determine Relationship type (cont’d)
 For FACULTY-teaches-COURSE we are told each faculty member

teaches zero, one, or two courses. We are told some courses are
taught by zero, one, two, or three faculty. This is a many-to-many
relationship.
M N
FACULTY teaches COURSE

 For STUDENT-takes-COURSE each student enrols in one to six

courses and each course is taken by zero or up to 30 students. This
too is a many-to-many relationship.

M N
STUDENT takes COURSE
 University Example (cont’d)
 Step 4. Determine level of participation
 FACULTY-teaches-COURSE - level of participation is optional,
since sometimes Faculty do not have to teach (e.g., sabbatical);
similarly, a course may not have anyone interested in teaching it
M N
FACULTY teaches COURSE

(0,2) (0,3)
 STUDENT-takes-COURSE - level of participation is mandatory
since students must take at least one course; a course, however, may
or may not have students taking it
M N
STUDENT takes COURSE
(1,6) (0,30)
 University Example (cont’d)
 Step 5. Assign an identifier for each entity
 FacultyID, CourseID, StudentID
 Step 6. Draw completed E-R diagram
M N
CourseID, ... COURSE taken by STUDENT

(0,3) M (0,30) (1,6) StudentID, ...

taught by

(0,2) N
FACULTY

FacultyID, ...
 University Example (cont’d)
 You are now told that in addition to the relationships given, each
student is assigned a faculty advisor who gives direction in choosing
courses.
 Use occurrences diagram to visualize relationship between entities
 We are told each student is advised by exactly one faculty advisor.
We can assume that each faculty member advises zero, one, or more
students. This means the additional relationship is of type one-to-
many or 1:M.
 The STUDENT is on the many side of the relationship and must be
advised therefore, faculty is mandatory to student; FACULTY on the
one side of the relationship may or may not have a student, therefore
student is optional to faculty.
1 M
FACULTY advises STUDENT
(0,N) (1,1)
 University Example (cont’d)
 Step 6. Draw completed E-R diagram
1 M M 1
StudentID, ... STUDENT takes COURSE CourseID, ...

M (1,6) (1,1) (1,1) (0,30) 1 (0,3)

(1,1) M (1,1)
taught
by
M (1,1)
1 (0,2)
(0,N) FACULTY
1
FacultyID, ...
 Weak Entities
 an entity that has a dependency on the existence of another
entity (mandatory participation) and
 has a primary key that is partially or totally derived from
the parent entity of the relationship
 depict weak entity and relationship with rounded corners

COURSE contains SECTION

CourseID, ... CourseID, SectionID, ...

EMPLOYEE has a DEPENDENT

EmployeeID, ... EmployeeID, DependentID, ...

 Generalization Hierarchy
 A subtype entity is an entity that contains a set of optional attributes
of the supertype entity and inherits its attributes and its
relationships from the supertype entity
 If the supertype entity is related to exclusive (can belong to only one
subtype) subtype entities, indicate with 1; if subtypes are
overlapping (can belong to more than one), use m

supertype
CLIENT CONTRACT
1 m
subtype

INDIVIDUAL CORPORATE PRODUCTS SERVICES

The same identifier (e.g., ClientID) is used for the supertype as

well as subtype.
 Evaluation of the E-R Model
 Using data models to conceptualize the design of a database saves
time and money because a completed E-R diagram is the actual
blueprint of the database. Its composition must reflect an
organization's operations accurately if the database is to meet that
organization's data requirements.
 The completed E-R diagram also lets the designer communicate more
precisely with those who commissioned the database design. It’s
easier to correct design flaws at the data modeling stage.
 Do not confuse entities and relationships with actual tables. The
transformation or decomposition of E-R models will be discussed
within the next few weeks.
 E-R modeling is an iterative process. Even when complete, ER
models generally do not provide a complete picture (e.g., business
rules cannot always be shown), therefore, much additional
documentation is necessary.